ROBERT MORALES: Sean Rosenthal's 'Rosie's Raiders' are true fanatics

They root for Sean "Rosie" Rosenthal of Redondo Beach in ultra-passionate fashion. They heckle his opponents. They are Rosie's Raiders, a group of people who follow their hero to the far reaches of the beach volleyball circuit.

"I went to Beijing; there were about four or five of us," said Wade Ichinose, who calls himself an honorary Raider because he did not grow up with Rosenthal in the South Bay. "I didn't get to go to London, but more of them went to London.

"I plan to go to Rio de Janeiro (for the 2016 Olympic Games). As long as they make it, I'm going."

Yes, some of Rosie's Raiders followed Rosenthal and then-partner Jake Gibb to the Olympic Games in Beijing and London, where the duo finished fifth both times and out of a medal.

On Saturday, Rosie's Raiders -- some with T-shirts depicting that name and some bare-chested -- were out in force as Rosenthal and new playing partner Phil Dalhausser defeated Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira of Spain in straight sets in the gold-medal match at the Long Beach Grand Slam.

John Panage grew up with Rosenthal, and is a hard-core member of the Raiders.

"I've been knowing Rosie since back in the day and that natural talent took him somewhere special," Panage said. "We've been following him all over the show. We got boys who went to Beijing, we all went to London to support him. And now we brought Phil (Dalhausser) to the dark side and we're just going to rock and roll all the way to Brazil."

Panage is about as demonstrative as any in the group. If he's not cheering on Rosenthal, he's trying to pester his opponents. He insists it's all in good fun, though Rosie's Raiders have been known to tick off a foe or two.

"We just like to get in their heads," Panage said. "Real clean and classy, nothing too dirty. But it'll make them laugh and take them off their game a little bit and then we just take over."

It was hard to hear everything Rosie's Raiders yelled out Saturday because loud music was playing between each point. We did pick up on things like, "Second place (stinks)," and, "It's a long flight home," being shouted to the Spaniards.

Before the match, Panage was asked for a prediction."I think we're going to go in two, and we're going to send the Spaniards back to eat tapas on the first Southwest flight out of there," he said.

"That's all there is to it."

We're not sure how many actual members there are in Rosie's Raiders.

They were a dominant force on Saturday, filling up dozens upon dozens of courtside seats. There were others in various part of the 3,500-seat stadium, in a show of force."I'd say about 2, 3,000," Panage said, when asked about the numbers of Rosie's Raiders. "We're at least an army. I'm not quite up there yet. I'm more like a sergeant or a captain. But he's the leader of the free world, and that's Rosie."

These people are incredibly devoted, and Rosenthal loves every one of them.

"They're all a bunch of friends of mine that I grew up with and I've been going to the beach with since I was a young teenager," Rosenthal said.

"They love the sport, they're not very good at it. Partying and talking. But you know, they respect all the guys we play. They say what they can to try and get in the other team's head a little bit.

"But in the end, if they were to see Pablo and Adrian right now, they'd buy them a beer. It's all in good spirit, even though it might not sound like it if you heard anything up close."

Sitting next to Rosenthal in a post-match news conference, Dalhausser wore a sly smile.

"For years, I've been battling them with Sean and Jake," Dalhausser said. "I'm glad they're on my team now."

It hasn't all been gravy. The Olympics, for example, have left Rosenthal with heartbreaking disappointment. Raider Frank Ravaglia is hopeful that will change.

"Rosie is just a very good guy, that's why we follow him," Ravaglia said. "Now that he's with Phil, it's like they are going for the gold in Rio in 2016."

The icing on the cake Saturday came when about 100 of Rosenthal's fans -- Raiders and associates -- formed a London Bridges Falling Down line for Rosenthal and the 6-foot-9 Dalhausser to walk under after their victory.Doesn't get much better than that.

Rosie Raiders will be back this morning when Rosenthal and Dalhausser take on fellow Americans Gibb and Casey Patterson in the World Series of Beach volleyball.